Poor minnows in Middle Ga.

Is anyone else tired of the minnow selection/quality in Mid.Ga? Im talking Oconee Sinclair an Blackshear. Im not here to bash local bait shops. They're mostly good folks and can only sell what they get. So my question is were are they getting the minnows from? Is there anything we can do to improve the quality of bait we buy? When I say good quality minnow Im looking for a minnow thats close to a AA battery in size. Im not looking for shiners just good sized minnows. Maybe its me :dono Just think we could do something to improve the quality of minnows around here

Big Ed at Sinclair has always had good bait. Problem is that I don't come by his store very often. I have had a couple friends stop by there and grab me a few bags. I will keep them alive at home so I don't have to hunt for good bait when it's time to fish. Bait stores would be more profitable and more fair to the customer if they sold by the pound or half pound. Some stores count every minnow and some just scoop. I would rather have shiners than tuffies too.

I wish had the money and time to open the perfect crappie store. But then I would probably never have time to fish.

Shine I do the same thing. If I run across some good minnows I buy as many as I can an try to keep them alive at the house. And ditto on buying in pounds vs. dozen... There has got to b something we can do to improve bait in Mid Ga. Contact the whole saler, tell bait stores bout the problem, I dunno

I used to have that same problems. Some bait shops always had poor quality minnows and others it was hit and miss. That was one reason I just quit fishing with minnows and just went strictly to pulling jigs. One day I may need to push instead of pull and I'll be hunting some good minnows again.

Scoggins in Milledgeville used to have a small selection of minnows before they closed but I don't know who the supplier was. You could get small, large, jumbo, and goldfish if I remember correctly. I'm not sure of the specific variety (shiner, tuffie, etc.) but I was always satisfied. I think they have another location in Eatonton but I never seem to make it passed Big Ed when shopping for bait.

How are you keeping them alive? I can't seem to get past 2 days.Im on city water so I have to go to the river for water.

I put em n the biggest cooler i got and mix well water with that blue stuff. Also have a frabill air pump that plugs into the wall an leave it running. Change water daily in hot weather. Cold weather they last longer.

I keep them alive for a week most of the time. I keep them in a cool/shady place and put a few dried oak leaves in the bucket. I think it obsorbs the ammonia form their feces. I keep a couple buckets out for rainwater when possible and use it.

Buford bait supplies most the shops around middle ga. The bait shops have to keep the bait tank we'll oxygenated. From my experience, some do a better job than others. I have been in shops and have seen dead minnows floating in their tank. I am not blaming bait shops. Some can afford better systems than others.

with city water kep several containers out open the clorene will desipate in a few days .

Buford bait co. That sounds right. I know the last minnow I bought the lady at the store was nice enough to pick out the biggest minnnows she had. She was saying they only have 1 supplier now because the fella they use to buy from had retired. Sounds like the stores have no choice but to buy from this company.

Thanks for the info Papasage. I struggle to find water when it doesn't rain for awhile.

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Originally Posted by papasage

with city water kep several containers out open the clorene will desipate in a few days .

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keep old pop bottle and fill with water frezeand drop one in the water to keep it cool .

Buy some aqua start aquarium starter and it makes all tap water safe instantly I kept a batch of medium minnows for about a month with no problems